Arthur returned the grin. “Her paintings would have flown off the wall even without the romantic story, since her gallery is going to be set in the castle she and Douglas are building in her artist colony. Every member of society is dying to get a personal invitation to tour the castle when it’s done. Many of those societymembers are suddenly taking an avid interest in becoming patrons of the arts, or more specifically, patrons of Georgette’s work.”
“I have a feeling a lot of people are going to find themselves longing to become artists as well, what with how charming the plans for Georgette’s improvements for her colony are shaping up,” Chase said. “I got a look at them yesterday at the agency. It should look like a fairy-tale town once it’s completed.”
“Things going well at the agency?” Arthur asked, turning to his own tie.
Chase nodded. “Turns out I was right about understanding the human condition. Eunice has decided I’m good with handling our more emotional clients because I seem to have a knack for drawing out information that helps Daphne puzzle out solutions to their problems.”
“Except for Mrs. Collins today.”
“She was an extreme case. Turns out the gentleman her daughter agreed to marry might have some rather nasty skeletons in his closet, at least according to Alva Vanderbilt. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find Eunice tracking Alva down at the ball tonight to see what’s behind the rumors.”
“An idea that’s somewhat alarming, considering the plans I have for Eunice.”
A light rap on his door had Arthur turning to see his mother standing in the doorway. “It’s almost time, boys.”
“We’re coming, we’re coming,” Lloyd said, “and it’s rather disconcerting for my daughter to be calling me a boy.”
As Lloyd ambled out of the room, Chase joined Arthur in front of the mirror.
“May I assume you’re going to ask Eunice to marry you tonight?”
“I’m not telling you that. It’s a surprise.”
“Please, you and Grandfather have gone to a lot of effort to plan this evening, all on the guise of having everyone believe it’s to introduce Georgette and Douglas to society as a married couple—something I know Georgette wasn’t keen to do and only agreed tocooperate with after you told her your plan. It hardly seems fair that she knows, whereas I, your favorite brother, do not.”
“You’re not getting it out of me, and here, let me fix your hair. Don’t you own a comb?”
After getting Chase relatively put together, and after Arthur shrugged into his formal evening coat, they made their way out of his room and down the curved staircase to the first floor, where his mother, father, older brother Benjamin and his wife, and Lloyd were already in the receiving line.
Arthur had barely gotten to his spot when their guests began to arrive.
Bending over one young lady’s hand after another, all of whom smiled brightly back at him, and all of whom had mothers who were only too willing to extol the recent accomplishments of their unmarried daughters, many of whom he learned were considered incomparables, Arthur found himself wondering time and again how he could have ever thought his life’s plan should be to amass a fortune and then marry an incomparable. Now when he was meeting so many of them, he realized that he’d done each and every one of them a disservice. Yes, they were beautiful and accomplished, but they were each special in their own way, something he’d never thought about before, but something he’d never forget again, especially if he were fortunate to have a daughter or two of his own.
He would never allow a gentleman to pursue a daughter of his simply because of a title she’d earned or, worse yet, because of the fortune he had managed to amass.
“Arthur, I was hoping you’d be here this evening.”
Waiting until the young lady he’d just addressed moved on to Chase, Arthur found Mitzi Jarvis, now Mrs. Thomas Gibson, standing in front of him, beaming a genuine smile at him.
He took hold of her gloved hand and kissed it. “Mrs. Gibson, it’s lovely to see you.”
She surprised him when, after he released her hand, she took hold of it again and gave it a squeeze. “It’s Mitzi, Arthur, notMrs. Gibson. Honestly, we were always good friends.” She glanced around before she tugged him out of the line and down a hallway that had relatively few guests milling about.
“Forgive me for pulling you away, but something has always bothered me about the way we last parted.” She searched his eyes. “Do tell me you’re not still cross at me for ... ah...”
“Rejecting me out of hand?”
“Oh, I was right,” she said with a sigh. “You did take our last encounter badly, and to be honest, I fear I made a muddle of it.”
“You told me you wouldn’t marry me because I was a second son and didn’t have a large enough fortune.”
Her eyes widened. “Is that what I said? Good heavens, I am sorry. I fear you simply took me by surprise, and it was just when I was about to tell you that Thomas had proposed to me and I was over the moon about it. I had no idea you had tender feelings for me, and not that this is an excuse, but because of my youth, I panicked and said the first thing to spring to mind, something that I thought would have you realizing you didn’t love me at all.”
“I thought Ididlove you at the time.”
She released another sigh. “You were young as well and possessed of such a romantic heart. I should have realized you were considering me in a romantic manner, but I suppose I enjoyed the attention, because what young lady doesn’t enjoy having a handsome, as well as charming, gentleman pay her attention? Again, it was not well done of me, but you would have grown bored with me in a fortnight. You were never meant to spend your life mingling in society like so many second sons do, with relatively few demands expected of you from your family. You were meant to forge your own way in the world, and that’s exactly what you’ve done.” She gave his arm a pat. “I, on the other hand, was meant to mingle in society and would not have wanted to go off with you in search of your destiny. That’s why Thomas has always been perfect for me. His family business is well established, as is he, and he enjoys listening to me prattle on about the lateston ditor the latest fashions, something that would have bored you to tears.”
It was fortunate Arthur had already concluded he’d been a bit of an idiot in his past, because what Mitzi said was nothing less than the truth and something she had realized about him even in her youth.
